Resisting the Billionaire Collection (56 page)

Chapter Twenty

It was late when Joshua’s meeting with the bankers
wrapped up. Already midnight. The matter was urgent but had been
resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. Joshua had made sure that no
one had left the room until absolutely everyone was on board with
the plan.

Just another day at the office.

As soon as he left the boardroom, he checked
messages. There were eight in total from Jonas:

19:34 - He’s back at her place with a
delivery van and he’s changed clothes.

Looks like he’s dressed up for
something.

19:57 - She’s getting into the truck with
him and driving away.

20:12 - They’re pulling over to the
sidewalk. Some dangerous driving here.

MJ is crying. He’s putting his arms around
her.

20:16 - They’re pulling back out into
traffic. More dangerous driving.

20:42 - They are now pulling up outside the
apartment.

20:51 - They have entered the building.

20. 55 - Adam is bringing her belongings in
side.

21.21 - Everything is inside and they are
now in the apartment together. We’ll stay

on it Mr. Drummond. If you
need us to
enter the apartment, just say
the word.

If anything happens, you’ll be first to
know.

"If anything happens?" He shouted and then
looked around. His entourage of assistants, bodyguards, and drivers
paid no attention to him.

"It’s…" He checked his $60,000 watch. "…
24:15 and they went into the apartment at 19:21. That’s nearly
three goddamn hours! What do you think a beautiful woman and a
horny young man can do together in four hours alone in a luxury
Manhattan penthouse apartment?"

Nobody responded.

Joshua prodded his largest bodyguard,
Bertrand, in his massive ribs.

"What would you do? If you had just saved a
beautiful young woman from being made homeless and you were alone
with her in your penthouse suite?"

Bertrand was nearly seven feet tall, French,
and of African descent.

"Monsieur Drummond," he replied with alert
but half-closed eyes, "I would take this woman and I would
fu--"

"It’s enough." Joshua cut him off. "Get me
back to the airport, we’re going back to New York tonight."

"But Mr. Drummond," one of his aides
intervened, "we have more meetings here tomorrow, we--"

"Cancel everything. This is a family
emergency."

"But sir--"

"Do it, or start looking for another
job."

"Yes sir." The tall, attractive blonde woman
responded.

Traffic was inexplicably heavy on the way to
the airport and there was a delay in takeoff due to a technical
fault discovered in his airport. It was already 6:30 a.m. when he
finally opened the front door of his apartment, scanning nervously
for signs of activity. When he saw no sign of either Adam or MJ on
the living room sofa, his rage began to mount.

A shadow came out of nowhere and shot
towards his ankles.

"Blackjack." He hissed. He leaned down to
stroke the animal a couple of times while he thought about what to
do.

"I’m sorry buddy," he whispered, "I’ve got
to go check on something. I’ll see you later." He stood up again
and straightened his shirt and tie. A habit he had from attending
so many high-powered business meetings.

His communications with Jonas during the
long and incredibly frustrating journey from the capital had
suggested that the pair had gotten down to business quickly. If it
hadn’t been for his security officer’s cool head, he would have had
had his men let themselves in to interrupt whatever activity was
taking place.

"I trusted you, you little asshole." He
hissed as he stalked across the living area floor and made his way
down the hall to Adam’s bedroom. He stopped in front of the door.
He heard the faint sound of moaning and struggled to control
himself.

‘
There’s
nothing you can really do, Mr. Drummond’.
His level-headed security boss had told
him.
Ms. O’Rourke knows nothing about you.
She has every right to do whatever she wants with Mr. Hamilton and
if you suddenly burst in upon them in a jealous rage then you are
only going to make yourself look crazy.

I’m not used to
this.
He thought.
What is the point of all this waiting?
If this was how being
normal
felt, then he was glad he had been raised a
billionaire where you could always have whatever you wanted,
whenever you wanted it.

He put his hand to the door. The thought of
them doing it in there, under his own roof, after he had gone to so
much trouble to conceal his identity and put his trust in this kid
he hardly knew but thought he could trust. He squeezed the door
handle until his knuckles were white and then slowly pushed the
door in.

What he saw amazed him.

Chapter
Twenty-One

Adam must have been more shattered than he thought
because when he next opened his eyes, it was the following morning.
The room was filled with New York sunshine and he checked the bed
next to him to make sure it hadn't all been just a crazy, beautiful
dream. 

No, it wasn’t. She was there.

Her face was turned towards him and there
were blankets down by her feet. It had been a warm night. 

He ran his hand through his tousled hair,
rounded his lips and exhaled slowly.

Her mouth was slightly open, her gorgeous
hair was spread all around her. Her beautiful body lay before him,
clad only in her scanty underwear. In one glance she had given him
morning wood from the forests of heaven that you could have hung an
anvil on. 

He had never seen a woman look so beautiful,
so helpless, so alone, and so indescribably hot. How had he
been able to go the whole night without her?

He was exhausted. What had he been dreaming
about? He looked down at his shorts which had been clean and saw a
stain right by the head of his cock. 

Wet dream. He hadn't had one since he was in
high school. No wonder he felt so relaxed, so happy, so
wasted. 

The beautiful girl next to
him moved slightly and he jumped to hide his boner and avoid being
caught ogling her. He reached over to pull the blankets up,
his heart racing. At last he was covered and his hard-on was a
little under control. He looked up and Blackjack was right in front
of him, staring into his eyes as though to say,
I've got you pegged, brother.

"Shhh." He said to the cat. "Don't say a
word, but I think I'm falling for her." The cat gave a little
purr as though he understood and ducked back under the
bed. 

He didn't have a whole lot of time so he set
to making breakfast for her and then skedaddled, leaving just a
note on the fridge for her:

There's freshly squeezed OJ in the fridge
and freshly ground coffee. I made pancakes, too. If they’re still
good, then help yourself. I'll be back around 5:30. If you need
anything, just call me.

- Adam.

He put his little smiley face there again
and hoped to God she would

call him for something -- anything. He
didn't have time to eat anything himself, but it didn't matter. He
had his thoughts of MJ and her gorgeous ass to keep him warm and
happy all day long. 

He would need it, too. He would spend the
whole day delivering packages for free, half of them damaged (which
he would have to explain and pay for), and all of it on his shitty
new bike. 

But so what? MJ would be waiting for him at
the end of the day, so although it was his impulse to quit the job
and spend the morning with her, he left the house and got to
it.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

When Joshua realized his roommate had chosen to
sleep on the floor next to MJ, he was stunned and relieved. He
closed the door again, returned to his room, and sat down on the
bed.

"I love you, Ally." He said when he heard
the groggy voice on the other end of the line.

"Joshua? Is that you?"

"You always pick up. No wonder MJ was so
loyal to you."

"Hold on, it’s…" she checked the time on her
alarm clock, "…four in the morning! Trust me, if I’d known the
time, I wouldn’t have opened my eyes. What’s going on?"

"I have news on MJ."

"Tell me. What is it? Is she okay?"

"Yes and no."

"Oh my God." She sat up. "What’s going
on?"

"Nothing to worry about. Let’s just say that
she had some issues with her landlord, but they’ve been sorted out
and there’s nothing to worry about."

"What did you do? Pay her rent or something?
She won’t like that, trust me."

"Nothing like that. The issue got resolved
without my intervention, but there’s something else."

"Don’t be so mysterious. What is it?"

"I thinks she’s a little confused."

"Confused?"

"About life or something. Crap, I’m not good
with these things. I know other people get confused though, right?
I think she might be in what they call a ‘bad place’ right now, so
I’ve got it covered."

"Should I call her?"

"No need. She’s good and I’ve uh… upped my
security detail. I’ve got eyes on her night and day now, so nothing
to worry about. She’s more secure than ever."

"Secure? You make her sound like a mutual
fund statement."

"I’m sorry. I spent the whole evening
talking to bankers. I mean she’s safe and I’m looking after her ,so
there’s nothing to worry about."

"Okay. I trust you."

"Finally. Goodnight, Alison."

"Goodnight Josh…and Josh?"

"What is it?"

"I’m glad you’re there to take care of her.
I hate to ever say it to a Drummond brother, but you we’re right --
right to go out there to New York."

"I’ll send you a photo." He said.

"Of what?"

"My smug grin."
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He smiled.

"No need. I’ve got plenty already, but
thanks anyway. Goodnight, Josh. Keep me posted and don’t go near
her until I tell you to. Okay?"

"Wouldn’t dream of it."

He put his phone away and lay down on the
bed.

Maybe life as Blake Murray was taking a turn
for the better. At least now he was a whole lot closer to his goal
than he was before, with no harm done either.

Adam on the other hand, that ungrateful
little swindler would be out on the streets like a greased eel. If
MJ really cared that much about him, there would be little he could
do. But he would find out all about that in the morning.

"God, MJ. I just hope you’re the person I
think you are." He mumbled as he drifted off to sleep, still
wearing his suit from the night before.

It was only moments later when he heard
movement in the kitchen down the hall.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

MJ woke shortly after Adam to the same brilliant New
York sunshine and to complete disorientation. She eyed the room and
then jumped bolt upright.

"Where the hell am I?" She gasped.

She recognized nothing then saw the rumpled
sleeping bag on the floor and it all came back to her. She checked
her watch frantically before realizing she had nowhere to be. It
was 9:05. She could pick up her last paycheck later today.
Blackjack would need to be fed first. He had slept in his bed on
the floor next to her last night, but was nowhere to be seen.

She checked her phone. There was a series of
messages from the Sacred Heart Mission.

"Oh my God!" She put her hand to her mouth.
It was Friday morning. Yesterday was Thursday, her day to work in
the kitchen at the homeless shelter. In all of the confusion she
had totally forgotten to even call and say she couldn’t make
it.

She went through the messages and felt even
more guilty when she realized that all they cared about was if she
was okay or not. She called the supervisor back immediately but it
went to voicemail. He was probably in bed after working the night
shift.

"Dan, I’m so, so sorry. I had a crazy day
yesterday. I don’t even know where to begin. I’m okay though and I
swear I’ll make it up to you guys. It’ll never happen again,
believe me. I’m... uh… God, I’m just so sorry. Call me."

She put the phone away, got up, put on an
oversized t-shirt of Adam's that she found near the bed, and then
went in search of breakfast. She went to the kitchen and saw just
how huge, modern, and pristine it was. This was an apartment but it
was still bigger than her mom’s house out in Queens had
been. 

There was a note on the
refrigerator door. 
OJ, coffee,
pancakes.
She smiled to herself.
Everything about the situation felt like it had been a hot date.
She was in his kitchen, wearing his t-shirt and reading the
thoughtful little note he had left for her. The only thing missing
had been the hot sex, although without remembering any details, she
felt like her dreams last night had sent the mercury pretty
high. 

"Can I help you?" A deep, baritone,
male voice asked her from behind. She jumped and dropped the note
from her hands to the floor. She leaned over to pick it up. Before
she could do anything about it, MJ realized she was only wearing
her underwear and a strange man's t-shirt. She stood up straight
again and pulled the t-shirt down as far as it would go. 

Don't blush, don't blush.

Somehow since Adam had caused her to flush
yesterday, her old teen habit of blushing easily had been turned on
again. She felt the color rise and fought to send it back down.

"I'm MJ." She said and extended her hand.
She felt ridiculous. The man didn't move. If Adam was gorgeous in
his own crazy man-child way, this guy was full-on, rock-hard,
chiseled from stone, shaped by the gods, and drop-dead sexy. MJ's
hand began to tremble as the young man stood before her, not
moving, not deigning to return the handshake. He was dressed to run
for the White House while she was half naked and had practically
just mooned him in his own kitchen.